Arby’s gives 98-year-old WWII veteran with no family free food for life

Arby's has awarded a 98-year-old WWII veteran with no family free food for life.

The fast-food restaurant, which specializes in some pretty chonky sandwiches, offered the near centenarian a lifetime supply of free grub after noticing he dined there every day.

The senior in question, lovingly known as Mr Doug, has become a regular fixture at the Arizona chain and staff have decided to pay him back for his loyalty.

For years, World War II veteran Doug Parker rocked up to the restaurant looking to get his lunch fix for the day.

According to the restaurant, not a single day had passed when the vet didn't turn up to pick up some food or at least had it delivered to him.

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Doug, without a fail, would ask for the same thing every day and given that he ate it for three years straight - it's clearly a winner.

The pensioner's order was a roast-beef slider with Swiss cheese and some Coke - with no ice.

Sounds pretty good to me.

But there's a reason beyond the taste why Doug has made the Arizona Arby's such a core part of his daily routine.

He's revealed that the slider is one of the few things that doesn't make him feel sick after eating it.

Speaking to Fox 10 Phoenix, Doug said: "This is the only place I can get a sandwich or get something to anything else to eat that doesn't hurt my stomach."

Arby's manager Christina Gamage said: "He comes in with a walker, as soon as we see him come to the doors, we try [to] grab the doors for him."

The manager went on to explain that the vet doesn't have any family - hence why the lovely lot behind the fast-food joint have taken him under their wing.

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Taking customer service to the next level, the crew have even handed over their phone numbers to Doug so they can hand-deliver his roast-beef slider to his retirement home if he's ever unable to make the trip down.

One Christmas, all the employees raised funds to give the pensioner a $200 gift card as a present.

The manager recalled: "He was shocked, hardly had anything to say."

No doubt.

A fellow Arby's diner, Daniel Maloney, noticed the heartwarming rapport Doug had with the restaurant staff and posted the encounter to Facebook.

According to Maloney, the manager presented Doug his gift saying: "We really enjoy you here and we always want you to come back."

Doug then joked: "I never know if I'll be here the next day, but thank you so much for this."

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Maloney captioned his post adding: "There are so many good people in the world. These employees selflessly put in their own money, so an elderly man could come in and enjoy dinner on what he never knew could be his last."

When a local news outlet picked up on the story, Arby's made the lovely decision to gift Doug even further and offer him free food for life.

That's a whole lot of roast-beef sliders.

"Let's give him Arby's for life, I have no problem with that," manager Gamage said at the time, "we try to go above and beyond for him because he needs the extra love."

And the good news is going viral online with bucketloads of people flooding in to share their praise for both Doug and the fast-food chain.

One Facebook user wrote: "I love this story. Yes, that's how you treat a veteran. Yes, that's how you treat a senior. Respect! Well done Arby's."

Another said: "Thank you for your service and way to go Arby's employees... you are awesome."

"My heart is dancing," added a final Facebook user.

Ours too.